Word of Mouth

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Series exploring the world of words and the ways in which we use them

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Word of Mouth: Words from World War I

Words from World War I

BBC Radio 4 - Word of Mouth, Words from World War I

Michael Rosen and Professor Lynda Mugglestone explore the new language from World War I.

Doing your bit, dear old Blighty and BYOB. Michael Rosen and Professor Lynda Mugglestone explore words and phrases that defined the First World War and what they mean to us today.

Doing your bit or shirking? Afflicted with ‘Belgian flush’? Don’t forget to BYOB.

Lynda Mugglestone, Professor of the History of English at the University of Oxford, joins Michael Rosen to talk about the new language that emerged from British experience in the First World War – from Zeppelinophobia on the Home Front to ‘watching the pyrotechnics’ in the trenches. 

Jumping into an extraordinary archive put together by clergyman Andrew Clark at the time, they discover just how many words and phrases were coined to describe this brand new kind of warfare, and what they mean to us today.

Professor Lynda Mugglestone is the author of Writing a War of Words: Andrew Clark and the Search for Meaning in World War One.

Produced by Sarah Goodman for BBC Audio in Bristol.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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